Singing Off Key Lullabies
by Ezarine Bloom
Summary: It’s KARAOKE NIGHT! Ahem, chobi’s like singing, so they throw a party. We’ll see how they fair.. [21st centuryAU? slight pairings, some OOC because of ages.]


**Title:** Singing Off-key Lullabies  
**Rating:** K or K?  
**Genre:** I'll just say it's supposed to be funny? Or _dramatic_. Since, apparently, I can't be funny when I try..._And romance!  
_**Summary:** It's KARAOKE NIGHT! Ahem, chobi's like singing, so they throw a party. We'll see how they fair.. 21st century, AU-ish, slight pairings, some OOC b/c of ages.  
**Stats:** This is... going to be two or three chapters...MAYBE.  
**Author's Comments:** In this story, the Shikon Jewel is not a special jewel with powers. Rather, it is a one-of-a-kind toy that Kagome's father got a hold of and bought for Kagome before he died. (He is dead in this story, BTW...)And I'm not sure what it should do, since it's barely mentioned. Naraku is still obsessed with the 'Shikon Jewel', so no worries!

**Characters (and their ages):  
**Kagome- 10  
Sango-11  
Miroku-11  
InuYasha-11  
Kouga-12  
Bankotsu-12  
Kagura-13  
Naraku-13  
Sesshoumaru-13

Etsudoku Yukai! –_bows_–

* * *

**Singing Off-key Lullabies**

**Part I of UNDECIDED**

**By: Adaire **

-xox-

Mrs. Higurashi walked briskly into the throng of screaming pre-teens, weaving her way as she held a large bowl of popcorn above her head. A shriek came from her left in a corner near the front living room window, making her jump, but she carried on.

"_Kyaaa!_" A squeaky voice shouted down from the room's chandelier. "I vant to eat ze popcorn!" It wailed in a Transylvanian accent.

She had looked up and moved the tub of popcorn away just in time to watch a tiny silver-haired figure free fall from the brightly lit chandelier, landing with a loud thud on a large pillow by her feet. She giggled as her eyes trained onto a pair of dark haired figures sitting in another corner- one a boy with a dragon tail at the nape of his neck and the other a girl whose hair was loosely pulled into a ponytail. Mrs. Higurashi clutched at the popcorn tighter when the little girl scrunched up her nose and balled her fist. _Sango's not so dangerous. Besides, she knows I'll tell her mother if she– _

Only by that time Sango had raised her fist and bopped the young boy on the head quite harshly. "Stop touching me you chauvinistic piggy! My mommy says you can't come near me or she'll put a restratl–rastruli– restrani– restriin– _restraining order _on you! And she and your mommy said I had permissions to hit ya with hiraikotsu-chan! _Kaggie-kun!_" the young girl screeched, effectively halting all movement in the room.

"Daijoubu desu ka, San-chan? Miro-kun, put your hands in your lap right now," another little girl strode over and bopped the little boy on the head. "Zen."

"Kaggie-kun, doushite wa Miro-kun baka na otoko!" The little girl, Sango, cried out as 'Kaggie-kun' warily watched 'Miro-kun' rub his head.

"Miro-kun wa zutto ko baka; he can't-"

"Kagome," an older female voice interrupted them. "Please do not hit our guests. It is very impolite," the woman reprimanded.

"But Mommy! Miroku was _touching _Sango! That's _icky!_" She protested her innocence on behalf of her friend's safety.

"That is no excuse Kagome, now apologize. Miroku, apologize to Sango as well." Mrs. Higurashi turned her stern gaze onto the boy with a cheesy grin on his face. "You all need to keep your hands to yourselves.

_I can't believe I got stuck watching them all tonight..._"She added under her breath.

A silver-haired boy who looked to be the age of thirteen turned his head towards the older woman, declared their guardian for the night. His molten gold eyes gazed steadily at her until she felt a shiver go up her spine. Slowly she turned to face him, and he blinked in response. "Madame Higurashi, you need not worry about Kagome or I. I shall protect your daughter from the vile clutches of the mini-monk."

The way he said it just made the older woman burst out laughing and startling the younger children. They all seemed to be suddenly worried over her sanity. Kagome sat eerily still, a bright scarlet tinging her cheeks and neck, and her hands poised stiffly in her lap.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru, for your dedication. I suppose I have no worries now, so I'll be off. Here's the popcorn children," she spoke as she placed the bucket of popped kernels onto a nearby lamp-stand. "The karaoke machine's in the corner by the stereo system. I'll be up in my room if you need me, don't leave the shrine grounds, and don't turn up the sound too much."

"Good night, Mother!" Kagome called out as her mother walked away. Her cries were followed by the others': "Good night, Mrs. Higurashi!" When the quiet sound of a door's click was heard, the little girl with bright blue eyes spun on her heels to face her friends.

"It's time to party!" She said in a calm voice, rubbing the palms of her hands together and giving a quiet chuckle.

_Hey, that's what I'm supposed to do..._ A little boy with long black hair and reddish-brown eyes thought as he looked at the pretty little hostess.

"Kagome! Where's Ki-kun? Wasn't she supposed to come?" The boy who fell from the chandelier asked harshly.

"No! Kikyou is so mean to me! I didn't invite her." With that a small pale nose turned up into the air.

"Wha-? Grr, call her and invite her over now!" The little boy stomped his feet and moved to stand less than three inches from Kagome.

"Ooo, InuYasha! _Sit down_, doggie!" She shouted on his face, scaring him so much that he fell back and onto his back. Kagome laughed at InuYasha until he began growling.

"Aw, shove it poo-face! Kikyou isn't nice and we all know it! Even Naraku agrees, right man?" Another black-haired boy spoke up, coming to stand next to Kagome.

"I must agree with Kouga," the red-brown eyed boy spoke up, silencing everyone. Kouga only nodded again before shifting closer to Kagome and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Ew! Kouga-kun, get offa me!" She lightly slapped his small biceps in an attempt to disengage him, but he held tighter. She whined and pinched his cheeks, listening in the background as InuYasha shouted that Kagome couldn't be contaminated by wolf-guts. A boy with a long black braid started shouting what could only be described as war-cries.

"Ban-chan! Stop it, and help Kaggie-kun!" Sango complained pointing a finger at the trapped Kagome and shouting InuYasha.

"But I want Inu-poo and Kou-pie to beat each other up. Then I can have her all to myself!" The boy with the braid responded tersely.

"Bankotsu, jump into the fray and retrieve Kagome. Make sure she comes out alive but you may die in the process, if you so wish," a cool voice stated behind him. Bankotsu turned around to glare at the silver-haired boy.

"Why don't you go get her, Mr. Suck-up! Die for her safety yourself; then I can have her."

Sesshoumaru growled before turning away from Sango and Bankotsu, and stalking over to grab Kouga by the scruff of his shirt. "Silence fool. Do not touch her."

A little girl on the sofa sighed in exasperation. Boys could be so stupid sometimes! "Kaggie-kun, San-chan, come here girls and sit by me. I'll keep all of the boys away with my fans." She smirked as maliciously as a little girl can, and turned her reddish-brown eyes to glare at all of the boys in the room.

Kagome ran over to Sango and they simultaneously turned to face each other. Squeals erupted from their lips as they jumped onto the sofa to huddle around the one they called 'Kagu-san.' The girls nestled themselves into the crooks of the older girl's arms and faced the tv blaring out late night anime, squealing once more for emphasis on their happiness before breaking out into snickers. Kagu-san smiled down at them and then was about to look up at the tv when Naraku spoke up.

"Kagura, you must have realized by now that I am not afraid of you and your measly powers. Besides, I was born nine minutes and twenty three seconds before you," the boy said haughtily.

"Naraku... go get the karaoke machine and begin singing. Dear Kaggie-kun wants to hear your wonderful voice, don't you dear?" Kagura winked secretively down at the little ten year old.

Like a bolt of lightening, Kagome sat up on the sofa, nearly hitting Kagura's chin. "Yes, Naru-kun! Please sing for me; it would be wonderful!" Her fake enthusiasm was so realistic that it had Bankotsu and Sesshoumaru stunned, thinking the same thoughts.

_She likes guys that can sing? ..Then I'm going to sing..._

"Fine, since it's for Kagome," Naraku grumbled out, dragging the large karaoke machine into the center of the large living room. Meanwhile, Miroku had grabbed the remote and turned off the television. "What kind of song do you want me to sing, Kagome?" Naraku asked the raven-haired girl when he had finished.

"Hmm, sing a romantic song, please? One by Eitai na Dashi," she pleaded leaning forward on the sofa seat.

Kagura, Sango and Kouga laughed as a splay of pink coated Naraku's face. _Really, Kagome is so good at being an actress_, Kagura thought lightly. _I'll advise her mother to get a manager. She'll be a star!_ That group was one of the most romantic Asian bands of this generation, and if he was singing for Kaggie-kun, all the more entertainment for the rest of them...

"I– I... Um, _yeah..._" _Pretty girl, lots of power, Shikon Jewel hostess, cute, funny..._ Naraku rambled on in his mind. "Wait! That's for more than one person, so I need Miroku, InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, Bankotsu and Kouga to help me!"

Kagura and Sango scoffed from their places on the sofa. "Fact number one, Naru-kun. If you want to impress your future love here," she paused as Kagome and Naraku blushed, "then you can't have _them_ sing for you. Bankotsu, Kouga, and Sesshoumaru will help you. They will be your background. You, Naru, will be Heero; Sesshoumaru will be Juugo; Bankotsu can be Achi, and Kouga can be Shino. I suppose you can all share Toshi's parts..."

"I want to sing!" InuYasha shouted from his place on one of the other large sofas, bouncing. "Let me sing! I know I'm good!"

"_Fine, fine.._" Kagu-san hissed out. "But hurry up. Kaggie-kun wants to hear Naru-kun sing!" She had a mocking lilt to her voice.

InuYasha jumped down and ran to the middle of the room where everything was set up, grabbing a microphone and striking poses like a mini-rock star. As Naraku flipped the screen on to display the words for his friends, Miroku sat down on the carpeted floor right below Sango.

"I'm watching you mister," the brown-haired girl said snobbily as she bopped him on the back of his head. Miroku ow-ed in response.

-xox-

Suddenly the first guitar riffs of 'Nemuri no Uta' resonated throughout the room from the various speakers, and the squeaky yet clearly male voice of Naraku followed through as well. "**Calling on me again, atarashii kaze kanjinagara kyou mo aruite,**" he sang slowly. **"I move like you, with sleep, watashitachi no mirai wa; they are too beautiful to be real...**"

When there was a pause of two measures, Naraku stopped and Sesshoumaru waited to pick up. "**Gensou na no ka mo ne, but I can still believe...**" He paused to take a breath. "**Ai nara koko ni aru kara, waiting in my arms of sleep.**"

InuYasha picked up where he was supposed to; "**I have felt again, soshite sotto daite..****. Kage fumi shitenaide**," he paused to let the others join in.

"**Warawaretemo ii...**"

Kagome sighed dramatically when all five boys sang the single phrase. They really were good, but they were just boys... Sango and Kagura were sitting there bored, and the brownish-black haired girl occasionally had to hit Miroku on the back of his head.

"**How could you dream like that?**" Bankotsu trilled, closing his eyes and making funny faces. The three girls on the couch broke into laughter. "**Yamiyo ni hikaru tsumetai namida, and when my heart hurts so much...**"

"**Calling on me again, atarashii kaze kanjinagara kyou mo aruite**,"Naraku started again, repeating the chorus. "**I move like you, with sleep, watashitachi no mirai wa; they are too beautiful to be real...**"

Kouga repeated the chorus. "**Calling on me again, atarashii kaze kanjinagara kyou mo aruite... I move like you, with sleep, watashitachi no mirai wa; they are too beautiful to be real...**"

"**Haratatashii; all in the night, I find I cannot hide...**" InuYasha trailed off, finishing the song. Sesshoumaru was oddly proud to be the little brat's older half-brother.

Kagome screamed happily and clapped, although oddly disappointed that Kagura had assigned Naraku a part which allowed him to only be the chorus. _He did that on purpose_, she thought angrily.

"Well done, _boys_," Kagura stressed in an attempt to demean them. It worked when Kouga and InuYasha -_ Those air-heads, _Kagura thought - scowled in her direction and grumbled something not fit for Kaggie-kun's ears. She grinned cattishly and flipped open her fan in a silent warning. They shuddered in horror; she cackled maliciously.

"Yeah I thought so to-" Sango broke off, whacking Miroku on his left temple.

"I must put in, mini-slayer, that the more you extract your anger upon the mini-monk's brain, the greater occurrences there will be of him fondling you. The effects of your pain-inflicting shall only decrease his intelligence," Sesshoumaru commented, and eerie silence followed.

"He has a point..." Kagura put in.

"Oh, Sesshou-kun! You're so smart; no wonder you're three grades higher than Naraku and Kagura!" Kagome piped up cheerfully.

Sesshoumaru's eyes glazed over dreamily.

Kagura and Naraku growled, eyes tinting red.

Miroku and Sango laughed, bonking heads.

Bankotsu poked InuYasha with a stick.

InuYasha twitched spasmodically.

Kouga passed out, hitting his head on a lamp-stand.

And still the little girl was oblivious, believing her comment had caused no harm. She smiled through her confusion, watching all of her friends act oddly. "..San-chan?" She questioned quietly, hoping to gain the desired attention.

It worked.

"Nani, Kaggie-kun?"

"Why is everyone laughing?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all..."

Silence reigned heavily as minutes ticked by.

"...Okay..."

"Let's have someone else sing now," Miroku suggested. "Possibly one of these lovely ladies?"

All of the boys nodded in agreement as the girls stared openly.

"Kagu-san, sing next!" Kagome cried, bouncing in her place on the sofa.

Kagura smiled wryly and nodded. She moved up to the karaoke machine while the boys sat crowding around the sofa, punching and kicking each other. Kouga bit InuYasha, InuYasha punched Naraku, Naraku kicked Sesshoumaru, and Sesshoumaru punched and kicked Bankotsu. Kouga then attacked Naraku and InuYasha jumped Bankotsu, shoving his sock into the braided-haired boy's mouth. The older silver-haired boy took the time to sit down on Kagome's left, squishing her between himself and Sango. He took the time to pull her towards him.

Naraku saw this and growled, backing away from the younger boys' fight. "Get your dog paws offa her, Sesshoumaru." He pushed himself down onto the sofa between the two young girls and dragged Kagome across the cushions toward him. "She possesses the Jewel, so she shall be mine! Muahahahaha!"

_What a loon, _Kagome thought dismally._ I've gotta suffer through this..._

"Oh, give it a rest you freak!" InuYasha shouted from his position on the ground. Kouga was sitting on his back twisting his ankle negative eighty-seven degrees than its normal flexibility. "Erk! Quit it, wolf-crap! I-"

"Don't say bad words, InuYasha!" Kagura shouted from her place on center stage. Again she waved her fan in her popular threatening manner.

And again the boys shuddered.

Kagome and Sango snickered, but Sesshoumaru only smirked lightly.

There was suddenly so much tension in the room that Bankotsu decided to break it. "_Pillow fight!_" His voice echoed throughout the downstairs floor of the Higurashi shrine. "I am warrior, hear me cry!" With that, he chucked a big blue pillow at InuYasha. He turned to Kagome. "My queen, stand by my side and fend off the weaker devils!"

Kagura grinned and opened her fan. "I am woman, I hear your whine!" She grabbed her striped white and red pillow and flung it toward Kouga's face. "Eat feathers, wild dog!"

"I am mini-monk, so taste my holy wrath!" Miroku tossed a pillow at Sesshoumaru's head after he had bounded over to the corner where his pillow and sleeping bag were. The dark purple and black pillow sailed through the air and was deftly caught in the young man's hand.

A victorious grin spread on Sesshoumaru's lips. "Gotta go, gotta go! Popcorn needs butter, glasses of warm milk and cookies! Cookies-must bake warm cookies for everyone!" Miroku blubbered out in one breath. Sesshoumaru drew his arm back and pitched the pillow toward the boy's face, but when Miroku saw the fluffy object coming, he ducked. Unbeknownst to Miroku, his beloved Sango was behind him, and she was rewarded a purple pillow to the face.

Miroku ran from the room screaming prayers to Buddha.

"Giant dogs should always be leashed!" Sango crowed in exasperation, having had the wind knocked out of her. She was sitting on the floor with her arms crossed and a scowl tainting her lips.

Picking up a bright pink pillow (which happened to be Kaggie-kun's), Sango retaliated against the 'Ruler of All Lands'. His undignified 'oomph' was her reward and she smiled like she'd just gotten a shiny new bike.

"Ohmigosh!" Kagome squeaked.

"_Hiiiyaaa! _Run for your _lives_!" Kouga shouted, standing on the coffee table. One of his plastic swords was raised, poised for battle. In his other hand he swung a brown and black pillow above his head. "I am king, warrior and triomphe! You won't beat me! Nanner-nanner-boo-boo! Whiny butts! Feel my wra-" He was cut off with a kick to his ribs.

Sesshoumaru stood up straight again, having just extended his right leg to deliver a blow to the young wolf. "Cease and desist, you unintelligible fruitcake. This Sesshoumaru shall not tolerate your stupidity."

Naraku and InuYasha snickered. _Definitely a fruitcake,_ they thought simultaneously.

Bankotsu snuck behind Kagura and smacked her with his white and purple cased pillow; while she stumbled forward, he took the chance to snatch her fan away. "I got it, I got it! Now she can't hurt us! Attack _now_, men!"

All of the boys froze where they were at the first signs of Bankotsu's voice. When they heard the command, they dove for the stunned Kagura. Before they could seek revenge, a shrill cry pierced the room. Eyes swivelled toward the sound and found the youngest of them all, their hostess, with her face buried into soggy hands. Large liquid crystals fell from the cupped hands onto pink, blue and white pajamas. Sango ran over to Kagome and soon after, Kagura had managed to scoot her way closer; both girls wrapped their arms comfortingly around the young girl and made shushing noises.

When Kagome made no signs of stopping, Kagura and Sango began to sing ...

"Douka sonna fuu ni kanashige na hitomi de. Kowaresou ni kiesou ni warawanai de. Nee boku ni wa nani ga dekiru?

"Nee oshiete... Kagome-chan, douka wasurenaide..."

When they had finished, Kagome had quieted and was only murmuring incoherently. Kouga moved forth and gripped her in a fiercely protective hug. "Daijoubu desu ka? My woman shall never cry again as long as I live..."

Sesshoumaru broke the tender moment, a frown marring his pristine features. Secretly he didn't want anyone touching Kagome...

"That was an oxymoron."

Everyone stared.

**To Be Continued...

* * *

**

**Author's Note:** Okay! New story... heh.

**On the next (and last) installment- I think:**

Problems are trying to be resolved. Sango and Miroku come to terms with their feelings, Sesshoumaru and Naraku duke it out, and Kouga bakes brownies. Meanwhile, Kagura sees Bankotsu do the unthinkable, InuYasha eats a piece of wood and Buyo stops by for some late-night milk.

Oh, don't worry, they still do karaoke somewhere in between...

–_grins maniacally_–


End file.
